Past To Present
by teaguere
Summary: When a case from Gina's past suddenly comes back to haunt her, it is up to the RED Cell Team to catch the unsub while protecting Gina at the same time. UPDATE: My Laptop crashed. Can't post until Fixed..hopefully soon..any ideas on posting from iPhone?
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first FanFic EVER! I'm really scared about posting it but I would appreciate any comments or suggestions! Please just keep in mind I have never written a story in my life! Please review if you would like me to keep writing this story and any ideas you have for where it should go! I hope you enjoy! And also, since we don't know much any of the chracters backgrounds I thought I would make up some of Gina's past a little. All we really know about her is that her dad is a General? and she has a sister. So I decided to have a little fun with her past. Let me know if it works or doesnt work!**

It started out like any other day for Gina LaSalle. She woke up, jumped in the shower, dried her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. She brushed her teeth while frantically watching the clock. She threw on a tiny bit of mascara. She didn't like to wear too much makeup on the job. She threw on a pair of jeans, a white V-neck tee and topped it off with a black leather jacket and black tie up boots. She grabbed her coffee and headed for her car. On the way out of her apartment she went to her mailbox in the lobby and grabbed her mail. She tossed it in her bag and headed for her car outside. Just as she was about to be outside, she heard the doorman who she had grown to know by his first name call out to her.

"Ms. LaSalle, you had a package arrive this morning that would not fit into your mailbox. I have it here with me." The doorman yelled from across the way.

"Thanks George, I'm in a hurry. I'll grab it later."

"Yes Mam, Have a good day."

And Gina was already out the door, practically running to her car. She was cutting it close with the time, like always. She only lived 10 minutes from the office but she still managed to always be behind in the mornings and the last to arrive.

When she got to the RED cell headquarters, the rest of the team was already there. 'Big surprise', she thought to herself. Cooper and Beth were already in the office discussing a case while Mick and Prophet were working out in the gym area of the building. Before she could even get all the way into the building, Copper opens the office door and lets the team members know that it was time to get started.

"Morning Darling, you look like you've had a rough night, eh?" Mick exclaims as soon as he spots Gina.

"I could say the same to you. So, what's this one's name? Or do you even remember?" Gina flashes Mick a smile to let him know she is just teasing.

With a smirk on his face he throws up his hands as if saying 'you caught me'.

"Classy" is all Gina says in response to the handsome Brit.

Mick says with a smug look on his face "Hey! What can I say? I'm a ladies' man."

By this time, both agents have arrived in the main office. Beth interrupts Gina before she can give her comeback to Mick.

"Don't you two ever get tired of flirting with each other?"

Both Gina and Mick look at Beth as if they have no clue as to what she is talking about. Meanwhile Cooper and Prophet laugh at the denial between the two.

Gina takes a seat at the large table across from Mick. She sets her things down and patiently waits for Cooper to begin.

Once everyone is sitting down, Cooper starts presenting the new case to the rest of his team.

With one click, a photo appears on the screen at the head of the table. "Yesterday, this woman was found tied to her bed, she was stabbed multiple times in her genital area and her tongue had been cut out."

"Hmm, tongues, that's new." Exclaims Prophet.

"Was the tongue left behind at the scene?" Asks Beth.

Cooper replies "No, it was never recovered."

"So maybe the unsub is taking the tongue as a trophy" interjects Mick.

"Possibly." Says Cooper.

"Are there any signs of rape?" Prophet asks.

"No" replies Cooper.

"The unsub could be impotent and the act of stabbing could be his way of achieving sexual release." Beth explains to the team.

"Are there any more victims?" Mick asks.

Cooper exhales "No, this is the only victim. But we believe he is just getting started." With another click, a second photo pops up on the screen next to the other photo. "This message was found on the bedroom wall written in the victim's blood."

The message read 'I will be seeing you soon'

The team was too busy looking over the details of the case to notice Gina staring at the screen in complete silence; she had not even touched her folder to read over the case. This was not like her at all. She would have normally already put in her two cents about the case.

"You okay, Gina?" Cooper asks.

It took Gina a minute to snap out of the trance she was in and realize the rest of her team were all staring at her with worried looks on their faces. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Cooper looks at her, only with more worry in his face this time and asks again "Are you okay? You haven't said one word since we started. You have just been staring at the screen this whole time."

Completely ignoring Coopers question, Gina replies "Zoom in on the victims hand; it looks like she is holding something."

"What is that?" Mick wonders aloud as he stands up to get a better view.

"It's a message." is all Gina says.

Before the team can ask what she is talking about, Gina grabs her bag, pulls out her cell phone and begins dialing a number.

Cooper, Mick, Beth and Prophet all sit and watch Gina with confused looks on their faces as she talks to someone on the other end of the phone.

"Sheriff Tanner, it's Gina LaSalle." Gina is quiet and patient as she is listening to the person on the other end. "Yeah, it's been a long time. I've been good, thanks. Listen, this might sounds crazy but the reason I called is because I need for you to check on Bryan Jones for me. " As the person on the other end is talking Gina's look on her face goes from worried to scared to angry. "WHAT?" Gina yells in shock. "Why have I not been notified of his escape?" "Yea, well clearly I never received that phone call from your deputy" "Well I appreciate the concern and for taking the time out of your busy schedule to make sure I got the call." Gina hangs up the phone abruptly and slams the phone on the table.

The rest of the team stare in disbelief, they have never seen Gina like this before.

Cooper finally speaks up "Gina, what is going on? Is there something you know about this case?"

Gina exhales "Yes, I know who killed her."


	2. Chapter 2

"What do you mean, you know who killed her?" inquired Cooper.

The rest of the team sat and stared at Gina giving her looks like she had lost her mind. She knew it was time to tell them about her past. In working with this team for two years, you would think they would know more about her past, but they didn't. Gina had hoped that this was just a bad memory that she could lock away forever. But here it was, ready to be unlocked once again.

After a long pause and slight hesitation on Gina's part, she finally spoke up "None of you really know much about my past, besides you Coop and you don't know as much as you think."

"Does this case have something to do with you quitting the FBI 3 years ago?" asked Cooper.

"It has everything to do with that." Gina said.

"Wait, you quit? I thought this was your first time working with the FBI?" Prophet said with a confused look on his face.

"Not exactly." Gina replied.

Gina turned to look at the screen that contained the crime scene photos, which she had grown to recognize all too well, before turning back to face the confused looks she had been getting now for the past fifteen minutes.

"I joined the FBI right out of college. I worked for the BAU. I was working with a great team of agents. Not as good as you all of course." Gina said with a hint of a smile.

Then she picked up where she left off "After about two years of working with the BAU, my team and I got a case involving an unsub who would tie his victims to their beds before cutting out their tongues and eventually stabbing them multiple times in their genitals. He would taunt us at the crime scenes, leaving messages on the walls using the victim's blood. Every time we thought we had a lead, it would lead to a dead end. He was always one step ahead of us…"

"So, he was never caught?" interrupted Beth.

"I'm getting to that part. Anyways, we put his profile out into the media asking for any help. After weeks of working on the case, we finally had a real break. Or so we thought. We got an anonymous call from someone saying they knew a guy who fit the unsubs profile. Bryan Jones." The team all noticed the look in Gina's eyes as she spoke his name. It looked like fear.

After a brief pause, Gina continued "His father abandoned him and his mother when he was just an infant. His mother began taking her anger out on him afterwards. She had verbally abused him practically his entire life. His mother had passed away 6 months earlier, right around the time the killings began. We knew this was our guy. He fit the profile to a T. He had been living in the house he grew up in. His mother left it to him after she passed away. We had the address and were ready to move in on him."

Gina suddenly stopped talking, as if not wanting to continue on. The rest of the team had remained quiet while Gina was explaining her connection to the case. But Mick could see the hesitation in her eyes. He could tell she didn't like talking about this. He stood up, walked to the opposite side of the table where Gina was sitting in her chair. He propped himself up on the edge of the table, grabbed Gina's hand and bent over to look her directly in the eyes. "It's okay, I...we are here" Mick corrected himself. "Whatever it is, it can't hurt you. You can tell us."

Gina, not letting go of Mick's hand, continued with the story "I should have realized something was wrong. This guy was smart. It was way too easy. It was a setup. The whole thing. The anonymous caller. Everything. He wanted us to find him."

Gina paused once again, hesitating to move on. Mick squeezed her hand, letting her know it was okay and that he was there for her. She continued "We never saw what was coming. When we entered the house, he was there…..waiting. He had a young woman held hostage with a knife to her throat."

By this part, Gina's eyes were filled with tears. "We never saw it coming. None of us. Out of nowhere, he pulled a gun and started firing. Three of my team members were killed in the process. Another barley made it. We couldn't get a clean shot because of the hostage. We were sitting targets. There was nothing we could do. The weird part is, he never fired in my direction. Almost like he was trying to avoid shooting me for some reason. After some time, he dropped his gun and released the girl. The whole time he was just staring at me and smiling. Like getting caught was part of his whole plan."

Gina hated thinking back to that day. The way the unsub looked at her, taunting her.

"As soon as he surrendered, he looked at me with a mocking smile and said 'I will be seeing you soon'. Those words have haunted me for years. After that day, losing half my team like that, I just could not do it anymore. It felt wrong for me to be there working with the BAU when I knew my team members couldn't. I should have died that day along with them. So I decided to leave the FBI. At first I couldn't even be in Quantico. Everywhere I went, I could feel that people were probably thinking the same thing I was feeling 'why her? She should have died too. Why is she so lucky? She's not leaving behind children?' So eventually I moved to Washington. I needed a fresh start. Some place where no one knew me. I lived there for almost three years. That is until Cooper offered me this job. At that time, I had worked passed some of the issues I had. I knew this was the job I was meant to do, helping people. I felt like I was ready to get back to doing what I loved. So I couldn't refuse his offer and now here we are."

Gina paused, waiting for her team members to respond to everything she had just told them. She looked around the table at the faces that were staring at her. Starting with Cooper, then Prophet, then Beth and finally to Mick. She saw concern painted on each one. She hadn't realized that Mick was still holding her hand for support. She pulled her hand back and placed it on top of his and said "Thank you" in a whisper. He responded with a nod of his head and a slight grin on his face. She really did appreciate him in that moment.

When no one said anything, Gina decided to break the silence. "And now, it's starting again. He's back to haunt be once more."

Sam finally spoke up for what felt like the first time in forever "Are you sure it's him and not a copycat?"

"I know it's him Cooper, he escaped from prison 4 days ago. The local PD has been searching for him. They didn't let the media know because they didn't want to cause panic. They figured he had already fled the country, that is until this woman was found. That's why I didn't know. That and the Sheriff who was just a deputy at the time of this case, dropped the ball in notifying me. He says he had one of his deputies try and contact me, but I highly doubt that. I am the least of their concerns right now while this madman is out running loose on the streets."

"Okay, we should get started then. Gina I want you to head home and take some time off while the rest of us work on thi…."

Gina cut him off before he could finish his order "No, Cooper. I am working on this case whether you like it or not. If that means I have to go against orders, then so be it. The point is, I know this case and unsub better than any of you. So you can either use me to your advantage or I'm doing this on my own. Either way, I am going to find this guy before he can hurt anyone else."

"She's right Coop, we need her." Mick interjected.

Cooper turned around to face the screen, he paused for a minute considering his options before turing back to face Gina "Fine, but the first time I see you can't handle this case or you're in too deep, your off it. Understood?"

"I got it. Thanks Coop."

"You can thank me once we catch this guy, okay?"

"Deal" is all Gina replied.

Cooper nodded his head to Gina and then turned to face the rest of his team "Gina and Mick, I want you both at the last crime scene. Prophet and Beth, I want you two to head over to the Prison and find out how he escaped and talk around and see if you can find out anything else. I am going to stay here and start looking over the old case files and see if I can find anything that might have been overlooked last time. Alright people, let's get to work."

* * *

><p>While riding in the car on the way to the crime scene, Gina was very quiet. She hadn't spoken a word since they left. She was sitting in the passenger seat staring out the window. Mick could tell she had a lot on her mind. But then again, so did he. After everything he had learned in the last hour and a half about Gina's past, it was hard not to. He realized he didn't know as much about the woman he has been working with for the past two years as he thought he did. He was having a hard time processing everything. He couldn't stand the silence in the car any longer so he decided to kill two birds with one stone.<p>

"So how come you've never mentioned any of this before?" Mick questioned while never taking his eyes off the road.

The car ride had been so silent since they left the office that the question startled Gina. She wasn't even sure the question was meant for her or if he was simply talking to himself. After a long pause and choosing her words carefully, Gina replied "It's just not something I like to talk about, it's hard."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry" Mick said.

"Don't apologize. I assumed you and everyone else would have questions. I just wish I could have told you all on my own terms. Oh and I just want to say thanks for having my back earlier."

"Were a team, that's what we do for each other." Mick replied.

"Can't you just let me thank you for once."

"You're Welcome but I'm sure you would have done the same for me." Mick said.

"Eh, maybe." Gina replied with a teasing grin on her face.

Mick returned the gesture with an equally teasing smile. He was glad to see Gina joking around again. She appeared to have her mind off of things, for a few minutes at least.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you all enjoyed Chapter two. I had a really hard time with some of the dialouge towards the end. I'm still not completely satisfied with it. But let me know what you all think! Sorry for not posting sooner, life has been getting in the way. I have already started Chapters 3 and 4 and hope to have them posted soon so keep an eye out for them! And remember any suggestions or critism would be apprectiated!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

When Mick and Gina arrived at the scene, Gina was very hesitant about going in. This all felt like a nightmare to her. But she knew that once she entered the house, it would all become way too real. So, she took her time exiting the vehicle and walking up the path that connected from the sidewalk to the front of the house. With each step, she reminded herself that she could do this. Mick, who was walking beside her, placed his hand on her back and as if reading Gina's mind, whispered in her ear "You can do this." Gina responded with a slight smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

The two agents climbed the steps that led to the front door. There was yellow police tape draped across the door. Mick opened the door, lifting the tape slightly so Gina wouldn't have to duck as far down and then he followed her lead into the house. The front of the house was very neat. It looked as though nothing were out of place. Gina headed for the long hallway and Mick stayed by her side, keeping at her pace. They reached the last door at the end which was shut and was covered in more yellow police tape. They did the same thing as they did with the front door. Without disturbing the tape, Mick turned the doorknob opening the door for his partner. Gina closed her eyes, gave a sigh and walked into what felt like her past.

Once inside the room, Gina opened her eyes. Memories suddenly came flooding back to her. The scene looked exactly the same as they had years ago. Mick interrupted her thoughts and handed her a pair of blue gloves so that they could begin looking over the crime scene. Gina put on her gloves and looked around the room for anything that might be different from the original crime scenes.

Years ago, Gina and her team spent weeks profiling Bryan Jones. She felt like she knew him from the inside out. So if she could just find something different about this crime scene it might give her some insight on where Bryan Jones is and what exactly he has planned. Most serial killers keep to the same regime. So any little thing could help. Forensics had already been through the room the day before taking fingerprints, DNA and other evidence. However, everything was left as it was found, excluding the body and weapon.

Gina took a step back and took in the whole scene. Bloody sheets covered the bed where the body once was. Above the head board was the bloody message that Jones had painted on the wall using what looked like his finger. It looked like he had been playing in it. There were marks on the headboard where the victim had been tied down with rope and tried to get loose. Blood was on the nightstand on the left next to the bed, probably from where he placed the knife afterwards. With the original crimes, he would use a knife from the victim's home and he would always leave it behind. There were never any fingerprints found on that or anything else in the house. He used gloves to cover his tracks. Leaving the knife behind was his way of taunting investigators. On the nightstand to the right was an empty mug.

Mick bent down over the mug to smell the inside. "That's weird; it looks like our victim had a cup of coffee before going to bed. Who drinks coffee before bed?"

Something wasn't right. "Not many people do." Gina paused, taking another look at the scene. "Take a look at the sheets. From the blood pattern and rope burns in the headboard, it looks like the victim was lying here on the left side of the bed when she was killed. Then he placed the knife here." Gina said as she pointed to the nightstand next to the bed.

"Okay…so…" is all Mick replied with a confused look and tone.

"So, she wouldn't have been able to put a mug or anything else on that nightstand if she were lying all the way over here. She wouldn't be able to reach it." Gina replied.

"So what your saying is, you think this Jones guy had a cup of coffee?" Mick asked, appearing to still be confused.

"Yes but it's more than that. The point is he stayed around afterwards. He fixed himself a cup of coffee and stayed. In the original crimes, there was no sign of him being at the scene for very long. He would always leave right after. Something has changed."

The look of understanding swept across Mick's face. "You're bloody brilliant."

Gina simply shrugged her shoulders with a smug look on her face.

"What time was she found?" Mick asked looking at Gina for the answer.

Gina pulled out the folder she had been carrying, opened it up and began skimming the information for the answer. "Yesterday around two in the afternoon. Her next door neighbor noticed her front door open that morning and didn't think anything of it until it was still open several hours later so she called the police. Why? What are you thinking?"

Mick looked around the room as if he were looking for an answer. He paused on the coffee mug "What if he wasn't just here for a few hours? What if he spent the night here, woke up and had a cup of coffee the next morning and ducked out early enough to go unnoticed?"

"But why take the risk of someone coming home to find him here in the middle of the night? He couldn't have known she was single, with no children or family." Gina replied.

"Or could he?" Mick asked with a raise of one of his eyebrows.

"Okay Mr. Brilliant, and how could he have known that?" Gina asked as she folded her arms across her chest and flashed a slight smile.

"I'll get back to you on that one." Mick replied with a grin on his face.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Beth and Prophet were at the local prison waiting in the Wardens office to speak to him.<p>

The Warden entered the office and greeted the two agents. "Sorry for keeping you waiting. We had another riot a little while ago in the prison yard. I understand you're here to get information on Bryan Jones's escape."

"That's right. I'm agent Simms and this is Agent Griffith."

"Nice to meet you both." The Warden said as he shook both of the agents' hands.

"How did he escape?" Prophet asked the short, older man.

"Like I said, we had a riot the other day in the yard. It was out of control. It took all of the guards to break it up. It wasn't until the inmates returned to their cells that we noticed he was missing. We searched everywhere. He was gone." Replied the Warden.

"Do you think the riot could have been planned? Have the others distract the guards long enough to escape?" Beth questioned the man.

"Not likely. I doubt any one here would try and help him. He wasn't very popular among the rest of the inmates. Jones kept to himself for the most part. The only time he ever interacted with anyone else was if he was fighting with them."

"Can we see his cell?" Prophet asked.

"Of course, follow me." the Warden replied.

The two agents followed the warden down the long row of cells. When the Warden stopped in front of one of the prison cells, Beth and Prophet entered. They did a quick scan of the room when Prophet noticed something above the bed on the wall. "What's that?" He asked Beth as he pointed towards the wall.

Beth cocked her head slightly to the right and with a confused look on her face replied "I'm not sure."

Both of the agents walked towards the bed to get a closer look. It appeared to be news paper clippings hanging on the wall. After a few minutes of looking over the collection on the wall, Prophet looked at Beth and said "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"I think we just figured out more of his profile." is all the agent replied.

Prophet looked to the Warden and back to Beth and said "We had better take these back with us."

Beth nodded and the two agents began removing the clippings from the wall and placing them into a folder.

* * *

><p>Note- I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post this chapter! I struggled with it for a while. I would type most of it and decide I didnt like it. I am not good with all of the crime lingo. This wasnt as easy as I thought it was going to be! But I hope you enjoy this chapter. Plase review and let me know what you think and if you would like me to keep going! Let me know if I should work on anything! I promise it is going to get really intresting! And some good Mick and Gina interaction is coming up in a few chapters or so! Also, I hope to post Chapter 4 soon!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Mick and Gina were still at the crime scene when Mick got a call from Cooper. He put it on speaker so Gina could hear.

Coopers voice sounded over the speaker "Hey, you two better get back here. There is something you need to see."

Mick and Gina exchanged glances between each other and then back to the phone that Mick was holding in his hand.

"Is something the matter?" Gina asked with worry ringing through in her voice.

"No, just get back here soon. We had some new information brought to our attention." Cooper responded.

"Were on our way Coop." Mick replied and hung up the phone, then he placed it in his jacket pocket. He turned to face Gina, placing both hands on his hips and said "Let's go" as he jerked his head in the direction of the door. He turned to start for the door.

Gina reached out and grabbed his arm. "Wait, we still haven't figured out how he knew she would be alone."

Mick turned back to face Gina, releasing himself from her touch. He placed both hands on her arms, one on each side and looked her in the eyes and said with a reassuring tone "We have time Gina, we can come back if we have to. You heard what Coop said. And maybe Penelope can work her magic and find something."

"Time? That's exactly what we don't have. We have no idea when he is going to kill again. We need to find some kind of connection between him and the victim, the sooner the better." Gina replied angrily.

"We will, I promise."Mick said getting closer to her face, never taking his eyes off hers.

"Fine" Gina replied, anger still present in her voice. "But if someone else gets hurt, it's on you."

This stung Mick. Instead of responding he simply jerked his head toward the door while at the same time releasing the grip he had on Gina. He didn't want to say anything he might regret. So he walked away.

Gina followed his lead back to the SUV they had arrived in.

The ride back was a very quiet and awkward one.

* * *

><p>Back at the RED Cell Headquarters Prophet and Beth were sitting at the table in the office with all of the newspaper clippings they had found earlier at the prison spread out in front of them. Cooper was pacing back and forth in front of the screen with one hand up to his mouth as if he were thinking very hard about something.<p>

The three agents had been doing the same thing for the last half hour. They were waiting for the rest of their team to arrive so that they could get started. As Cooper started pacing back towards the door, he glanced up and saw that Gina and Mick had arrived downstairs. Mick was almost at the office and Gina was much further behind. The agents both walked with tense postures. Gina had a very aggravated expression on her face. Whatever had happened at the crime scene, this certainly wasn't going to help.

* * *

><p>Gina and Mick had still not spoken since they left the scene. When they arrived at headquarters, Mick immediately got out of the SUV and headed inside without bothering to wait on Gina. This aggravated her even more. She hoped he realized she didn't mean to release her frustration on him intentionally. She was just having a bad day and was ready for it to be over with. Something told her that he didn't realize this though. She thought to herself that she would pull him aside later whenever they have some down time and apologize for being so snappy towards him earlier. She couldn't stand the thought of one of her team members being mad at her, especially not Mick. But right now, there were much more important things to worry about. Gina took a breath to calm herself, exited the vehicle and headed for the front doors of the large office space. When Gina entered the building, Mick was already heading up the stairs to the main office. She figured the rest of the team were waiting on them two to begin but Gina took her time. Whatever was so important that they had to get back so fast for, it probably wasn't good.<p>

* * *

><p>Mick entered the office to find the other three agents standing around the large conference table. They all had anxious and uneasy looks on their faces. "What's going on?" is all Mick said looking directly at Cooper for the answer. He could tell something was up.<p>

Without saying anything, Cooper's eyes dropped to the table in front of him and all of the newspaper clippings that were now covering it.

Mick rounded the table to see what Cooper was looking at. When he reached the other side to get a better view, he placed his hands on his hips and began looking over the clippings. After a brief pause, a look of comprehension now on his face, Mick muttered "oh no".

Meanwhile, Gina took her time climbing each step to the office. When she reached the door, she took another breath to prepare herself for what was coming. She opened the door and entered the room where her colleagues were waiting.

When Gina entered the room, all eyes were on her. She looked around at the faces that were concentrating on her. They all seemed troubled about something. Their postures were very stiff like. They were really scaring her. "What?" Gina asked in a sigh.

The eyes in the room never left Gina's face when Prophet uttered "We found these in Bryan Jones's cell." as he pointed towards the table containing the clippings.

Gina glanced down to see exactly what the agent was talking about. She rounded the table like Mick had done to get a better look, never taking her eyes off of the table. She could already somewhat tell what she was looking at before she got to the other side. She recognized them.

Spread out across the table were clippings upon clippings of newspaper articles all having do with her. Being an FBI agent, you tend to have your name and sometimes even picture in the paper when working on cases. There were articles from before she had begun working on his case years ago. Some of the articles looked as though they had been printed out while others looked like they had been cut out from an actual newspaper. Any part of the article that somewhat mentioned or hinted at her was highlighted. The clippings containing her picture, whether she was in a crowd of people or by herself, had pen mark circling her face. He had been following her career. Her life.

The rest of the team stepped back to give Gina some room to look over the articles. She spent a few minutes looking over all of the clippings. The worried eyes of the rest of the team still concentrated on Gina, waiting for some kind of response from her. She could feel the eyes on her, waiting in silence.

In a whispered tone, "He's obsessed" was all Gina was able to get out.

"With you." Cooper replied in a discouraged tone.

With that, Gina spun around to face her team. Immediately she could feel the tension in the room. She saw the concerned faces that were intently watching her. She wondered what they saw on her face right then when they were looking at her. Deep down inside she was in shock and terrified. She didn't want the rest of the team to see that though. She hoped they hadn't already. She didn't want Cooper to think she wasn't able handle this case or that she was in too deep. Otherwise, he would take her off it. She couldn't let that happen. Not now. Because she was in too deep. And there was no turning back.

The room was silent. Mostly because the other agents didn't know how to approach this for Gina's sake. They all knew this type of unsub. That's what scared them the most. This wasn't just some random person at the center of an unsubs obsession. This was one of their team members. This was their family. It was personal.

After a few minutes of silence, Cooper finally chimed in "Gina, you can go home and take some time, clear your head. We need to profile this guy and it's not going to be easy for..."

Gina interrupted Cooper before he could finish "I'm fine Coop. I can do this. I need to be here. Please." Gina's voice and eyes were both pleading with Cooper.

Mick started towards Gina and in a calm voice said "Gina, I don't think it's wise for you…" but was cut off before he could finish.

"I said I'm fine." Gina interrupted in a very abrupt tone.

Mick threw up his hands like he was saying 'I give up' and walked out the door. Gently slamming it behind him.

'Damn it' Gina thought to herself. That was the second time today she had done that to him. She really felt bad now. It wasn't right for her to take it out on him or anyone else for that matter. She really needed to talk to him now. But before she could turn around to go after Mick, Prophet, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke up.

"He's just worried about you, you know? We all are."

"I know that. But I am fine. I can handle myself. Plus, I can't have you all worrying about me and going after this guy too." Gina said looking to each of her team members.

"Hey, as long as you are on this team, were going to worry about you. Got it?" Beth questioned, looking Gina dead in the eyes.

"I got it." Gina replied with a slight smile on her face.

"Good." Beth replied in a monotone voice.

With that, all of the agents were now smiling. It felt good to smile, Gina thought to herself. Today had been a rough day so far and that was exactly what she needed to loosen up a bit.

"I guess I had better go talk to him." Gina declared as she turned to face the office window.

Cooper walked across the room to stand next to Gina and said "I think that's a good idea. When you finish, get back here. We have a criminal to catch."

Gina once again flashed a smile at Cooper and replied "Yes sir." and started walking toward the door.

As Gina was walking out of the door, Cooper said with a smirk on his face "And Don't ever call me sir again."

With that, the smile on Gina's face grew.

* * *

><p>As soon as Gina left the office, the smile that was on her face disappeared. She had to concentrate on finding Mick. As she was coming down the stairs she began scanning the large downstairs gym area for any sign of him. It didn't take long. Gina spotted him taking his frustration out on a punching bag. She walked over to stand on the opposite side of the bag. She placed one hand on each side of the bag to hold it steady for Mick. His eyes never faltered from his target.<p>

"Imagining this is me?" Gina questioned in a serious but teasing tone.

That got Mick's attention. His eyes lifted to glare at Gina. Apparently he didn't think that was too funny.

"No, of course not." Is all Mick replied before refocusing his attention back on the bag.

"Are you sure? Because I wouldn't blame you if you were." Gina responded.

Instead of responding, Mick continued to punch his target. Never letting up.

"Can you stop for a minute so we can talk?" Gina questioned.

"We are talking, darling." Mick replied trying to be a smart ass.

"Please Mick." Gina said, overlooking his smart ass response. Normally she would have thrown one back his way but she probably deserved it today.

Mick stopped punching the bag and placed his hands on his hips. Instead of saying anything, he simply raised both of his eyebrows while looking at Gina as if saying to her 'I'm listening'.

Gina grabbed Mick by the arm and led him over towards the wall where there was a stack of mats folded up. Gina sat down and patted the space next to her with her hand. Mick took the hint and sat down next to her. In a very somber tone, Gina began "Look Mick, I'm really sorry about before. For the way I treated you back at the crime scene and just now in the office. I keep letting my emotions get the best of me and I'm taking it out on the people who mean the most. I know you are just worried about me. I'm worried too, that's why I'm so on edge. Today has just been…" Gina paused searching for the right word to use.

"Bad" Mick interjected.

"I was going to say long, but yea that works too." Gina said with a smile on her face that matched the one that was now on Mick's.

"I can't stand knowing you're mad at me." Gina said.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm just..." Mick began.

"Frustrated" Gina finished.

"I was going to say Worried, but that one sums it up too" Mick replied.

Both Mick and Gina began to laugh with one another.

After a minute or so, Gina's face returned to its more serious composure. "I really am sorry. I promise you, it won't happen again. Are we okay now?"

"Were okay." Mick replied with a smirk on his face.

Both Mick and Gina stood up, almost in perfect synchronization. Gina reached out to give Mick a hug, wrapping one hand around the back of his neck and the other around his upper arm. He returned the embrace, placing both arms around Gina's small waist. Gina squeezed tightly, reaffirming her apology. Mick squeezed back with equally the same pressure.

This probably should have been awkward, Gina thought to herself. In all of the time they had been working together, this was their first real contact. They had shaken hands or playfully nudged one another sure, but never hugged. Not like this.

Mick and Gina pulled away from each other, to find a smile on each of their faces. Both dropped their hands by their sides.

"We should probably get back before they start wondering about us." Gina said.

"I think it's too late for that." Mick replied as he cocked his head toward the office windows.

Gina spun around to see what Mick was talking about only to find Prophet and Beth peeping through the blinds of the office, both with a sheepish grin on their face.

Gina and Mick both laughed and began walking back towards the office.

They had work to do.

* * *

><p><strong>Note-Sorry it took me so long to post Chapter 4. I was trying to make it a little longer for you all. Let me know what you think! I didnt get many reviews for Chapter 3 (only 2 I think) so please review if you want me to keep going with this story! I dont want to write for myself! Also, if you have any suggestions or comments please feel free to leave them in the review! I would really appreciate it.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After smoothing things over, Gina and Mick rejoined their team in the upstairs office. When they first entered the office they scanned the room and spotted Prophet and Beth sitting at the table beside one another looking over case files. Gina and Mick exchanged a quick smile when seeing the two agents pretending to read over the files and then headed to join them at the table. Neither Prophet nor Beth looked up from the files in their hands when Gina and Mick joined them. The two older agents were trying to play it off, but they knew they had been caught spying just a few minutes before. When they didn't acknowledge their presence, Gina and Mick exchanged a second glance with one another. Gina turned back to face the other two agents and then loudly cleared her throat to get their attention. It did. Prophet and Beth looked up to find both Gina and Mick staring at them with raised eyebrows and questioning expressions.

"Oh, have you two been there long?" Beth asked, playing dumb.

"Nice try. We saw you two through the blinds." Gina replied.

"No idea what you're talking about." Prophet remarked.

Gina and Mick both shook their heads as they exchanged smiles with one another. Clearly these two were not planning on owning up to anything.

"Right, it must have been someone else then, eh?" Mick said as he glanced around at the empty room with a smirk on his face.

"Are we going to sit here all day and discuss what we might or might not have been doing or are we going to try and catch this creep?" Beth asked, looking back and forth between the two agents sitting across from her and then back down to the case files in front of her.

Without saying a word, Gina threw up her hands in surrender. Both her and Mick then grabbed a spare file from the center of the table and began reviewing it with smiles still on their faces.

After a few minutes of reviewing the case files, Cooper re-entered the office and headed straight toward the large conference table that his team was occupying.

"Okay, what do we know?" Cooper asked as he reached the table.

"Obsessors eventually target the object of their obsession." Prophet said as he and the rest of the team all glanced at Gina almost in perfect synchronization.

Gina ignored the stares as she spoke up. "So, we know his end game. Right now, he is acting out a fantasy. When that isn't enough for him anymore, he will go after the object of his fantasy. Me."

"But why you? Why is he so obsessed with you?" Mick Questioned.

Gina glanced at him, narrowing her eyes as if she were almost offended by the way he worded that question.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just feel like we are missing something bigger." Mick replied.

Gina flashed her smile at Mick to let him know she knew what he meant by it.

"Maybe he saw something in you that reminded him of his mother or a victim." Beth interjected looking directly at Gina.

"Possibly." Cooper replied.

"No, that actually makes sense. Think about it, his mother verbally abuses him his whole life. She dies before he gets the chance to kill her himself. So he starts killing victims that remind him of her. That's why he cuts out their tongues, because of the verbal abuse. It's what he fantasized about doing to his mother. All of the victims in the original case were all over the age of 50. This last victim was 29. His victimology changed. Why?" Gina said in an almost excited tone.

"Because of you. In the last crime he is fantasizing about killing you and not his mother. That's why he didn't shoot at you that day. Maybe he thought you deserved worse. What his mother deserved. A bullet would be getting off easy." Prophet replied.

"Yea, so he goes to jail and obsesses over you the whole time he is there. He builds up this fantasy of what he wants to do to you and when he escapes, he has to satisfy this urge. Play out his fantasy. So he starts killing again. Only this time, victims that remind him of you." Mick explains.

With an almost confused look on her face, Gina asks "But why not just come after me to begin with? Why go through the trouble of getting all of this attention? He could have easily come after me to begin with and satisfy his fantasy."

"He likes a challenge. He wants to make this fantasy last longer. If he killed you first, the fantasy is over. So he goes after surrogates, so to speak. As long as you are alive, he can keep playing out this fantasy. Once you're dead, so is the fantasy." Cooper replies.

Gina had no response to this. She simply nodded her head. But deep down, she was terrified. She had seen his "work" firsthand many times. She didn't want to end up one of his victims. And right now, they were no closer to finding him. What if they couldn't find him? Would she live in fear for the rest of her life, waiting for him to come after her? All of these thoughts and questions were running through her mind but the one that stood out the most to her right now, that made her feel sick for even thinking it was that as long as women keep showing up dead, she would be safe. She hated to even think that. FBI agents aren't supposed to think like that. They aren't supposed to want more victims to pile up. But right now, she wasn't thinking like an FBI agent. She was thinking like a victim.

"Gina." Cooper said, pulling Gina out of her trance. "Did you hear what I said?"

With an almost embarrassed expression on her face, Gina said "No, I'm sorry Coop. I just have a lot on my mind. I must have tuned out. What were you saying?"

"That's understandable. That's also why I said we all need to go home, get some sleep and come back tomorrow regrouped." Cooper replied.

"This is one time I am not going to argue with you." Gina said to the older agent with a slight grin on her face.

"Good, now go home." Cooper replied with a grin also on his face.

Gina stood up from her chair and went to her desk to pack up her belongings. She noticed that the other three agents had already packed up and were heading out. Man, how long had she been in a trance, she thought to herself.

Once she was all packed up and ready to go, she headed for the office door. "Night Coop" is all she said as she opened the door and began walking out towards the stairs.

"Goodnight Gina." Cooper replied before she had fully closed the door behind her.

As she walked down the stairs she did a quick scan of the lower half of the building. She saw that the other three agents had already left and were all probably on their way home by now. "Thanks for waiting" she said as she made her way to the exit.

Once she reached the outside, she headed for her car. Her car was parked towards the end of the block, in its usual spot. Her eyes searched over the street as she was walking, just to be on the safe side. She felt so vulnerable, walking alone in the dark while there was a serial killer out there obsessing and fantasizing over killing her. As she made her way closer to her car, she started to calm down a little more with each step she took. Once she reached her destination, she grabbed her keys and rounded the car to the driver's side.

Before she could get all the way around to the side, she heard someone call her name. Maybe it was because she felt so vulnerable and terrified that she didn't recognize right away who it was. She let out a slight gasp and jumped back before realizing that it was just Mick. He was leaning against the back door on the driver's side of her car. He was waiting for her.

"You scared me to death Mick." Gina said as she came to her senses. With that she gave a slight punch to Mick's arm.

"I'm sorry love, I didn't mean to frighten you. You okay?" Mick replied as he reached out for Gina to make sure she was alright.

"Yea, I'm fine. Just a little jumpy." Gina said still shaking from the adrenaline that was now coursing through her body.

"I can see that." Mick replied with a teasing grin on his face.

"Why are you waiting by my car? I thought you had already headed home." Gina questioned with a curious expression.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay first. You seemed out of it back there." Mick replied.

"I'm fine." Gina said with a serious look on her face.

Mick squinted his eyes at Gina as if questioning her.

"I am, really." Gina said again with more emphasis this time.

"You know, I'm a pretty good profiler which means I can tell when someone's lying." Mick said with a grin on his face but a serious tone ringing through in his voice.

"And I thought we weren't supposed to profile each other." Gina replied.

"Some rules are meant to be broken love. Now tell me what you're really thinking." Mick said.

Gina sighed and backed up to prop herself up against the side of her car. "I hate to think it much less say it." Gina said looking straight ahead, avoiding eye contact.

"You can tell me. Whatever it is, I won't think of you any differently." Mick replied.

"Promise?" Gina questioned as she looked the other agent directly in the eyes.

"Cross my heart darling." Mick said as he traced an X on his chest.

Gina's eyes returned to look straight ahead to avoid eye contact once again. "I keep thinking that as long as more victims turn up, I will feel safe. That he won't be coming after me, but someone else." Towards the end, Gina's eyes dropped to the ground to stare at the concrete.

Mick reached out, placed his hand under her chin lifting her head up until her eyes met his gaze. "You're scared. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I would be more worried if you didn't feel that way. I know you really don't want this guy to keep killing, you're just afraid. And thinking like that is just your way of trying to push away the fear. It's human instinct. You just need to go home, relax and try to get your mind off this case. We will catch this guy. You have nothing to be afraid of. I….we would never let anything happen to you. You do realize that don't you?"

"Yea, I guess you're right. I am just over thinking this whole thing. I know you all have my back and would never let anything happen to me. I thought that way about my last team members too, and look what happened to them."

"You can't think like that. This guy may be smart but were smarter." Mick said with a smug grin on his face.

"Thanks for the pep talk. I really did need that." Gina said with a smile on her face.

"Hey, what are partners for, eh? You okay going home alone? If you need someone to stay over, I…"

Gina cut him off before he could finish "No, I will be fine. I don't need a babysitter but I appreciate the offer anyways. Plus, I have something his victims didn't."

"What's that?" Mick questioned.

"A glock 22 and some kick ass self defense moves." Gina replied with a smile on her face.

Mick returned the smile before saying "Alright, but the offer still stands. If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"Thanks Mick. I will see you tomorrow. Now go home and get some sleep, you look like crap." Gina replied with a teasing smile still present on her face as she climbed into her car.

"Right, goodnight love. See you tomorrow then." Mick said as he backed up onto the sidewalk to watch as her car pulled away.

* * *

><p>Note- I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to post Chapter 5. I'm not sure if everyone saw my message about my computer crashing a while ago, but it did. Well, it was finally fixed last week but I have been struggling writing this chapter. I hadn't written in so long, it was hard to get back into the swing of things. I hope this chapter is not to disappointing. I'm not fully satisfied with it but like I said, I had a hard time writing it and I just wanted to post something so you all wouldnt hate me too much. I hope the case information makes sense. That was the hardest part. I'm not to good with the whole profiling thing so I was just making it up as I went. I think the next chapter will be much easier to write. In fact, I have most of it drafted out from when I was brainstorming with this story. So hopefully that will be up in the next few days. As always, please review if you would like for me to keep going. The encouragement and knowing people are actually reading and enjoying it makes me work a lot harder and faster on it. So please review! Again, I am very sorry for not posting sooner. I know how aggravating that is once you get into a story and you are left wondering. Enjoy!<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Once Gina arrived safely back at her apartment, she closed the door behind her making sure to lock it. She dropped her bags by the front door and headed straight for the kitchen. She grabbed a box of leftover pizza and a bud light from the refrigerator. She hadn't had anything to eat since that morning but she honestly didn't realize until just then how hungry she really was.

After devouring the pizza and beer, Gina headed for her bedroom. All she wanted to do was get out of her clothes, get comfortable and go to sleep. After changing, she grabbed her gun and holster off of her jeans and placed it on the nightstand next to her bed. She usually put it away somewhere safe for the night but then again, she didn't normally have a psychopath after her. She didn't think she would see any action that night but she didn't want to take any chances. She knew from experience that this kind of unsub was unpredictable.

She then set her alarm for 5:30 am. That would give her an hour and a half to get ready and go to the office. After getting everything situated, Gina was ready to pass out. As she lay in bed, she tried to clear her mind of everything she had experienced in the last 24 hours. It was hard, but eventually it worked and she drifted away into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Gina awoke to what sounded like her phone ringing. Her alarm hadn't gone off yet, so she knew it was still early. Who could be calling before 5:30 in the morning, she thought to herself. Angrily, she jumped out of bed and headed to the dresser where her phone was sitting. Being half asleep and trying to walk in the dark at the same time, she stubbed her toe on the end of her bed post. She screamed out a few choice words before grabbing her phone and answering it without looking to see who it was.<p>

"What?" Gina said into the phone rudely.

"Gina….are you okay?" A voice said over the phone. It took her a few minutes to put together who it was.

After a long pause Gina finally spoke up in a confused voice "Coop? Is that you?"

"No, it's the Easter Bunny." Cooper replied sarcastically. "Where are you?"

"Well, I was asleep." Gina replied sounding aggravated.

"You were supposed to be here half an hour ago Gina. We have been waiting on you but were ready to get started here."

"What are you talking about? What time is it?" Gina said, still sounding confused and half asleep.

"It's 7:30."

"WHAT?" Gina screamed into the phone. "How? I had my alarm set and I never sleep through it. I am so sorry Coop."

"It's okay. Just calm down. How fast can you be here?" Cooper asked.

"I have to run through the shower really fast but I can be there in half an hour." Gina said as she reached for the light switch between the door and dresser.

"Okay, take your…" Cooper began to say before he was cut off by a blood-curdling scream in his ear. "Gina…Gina….Gina? Hello?" Cooper yelled before realizing the phone had gone dead on the other end.

* * *

><p>The other three agents in the office were all standing around Cooper with worried expressions on their faces while trying to figure out what was going on. They could tell from his tone that it wasn't good.<p>

"What's up?" Prophet asked.

"We need to go now, I'll explain on the way." Cooper replied as he ran out the door with the other three agents right on his heels.

As they jumped in the black SUV, Mick turned to Cooper who was sitting in the driver's seat "Where are we going?" he questioned.

As he started the vehicle and pulled out onto the road, Cooper replied "Gina's place. Something's happened. Beth I need you to call for backup to meet us there and get an ambulance there just in case."

The female agent nodded in the back seat, pulling out her phone and dialing a number. "On it" is all she said as she punched the numbers on her phone.

"What's happened? Is Gina okay." Mick questioned in a forceful tone.

Cooper avoided eye contact with Mick, not wanting to answer the question. Instead he kept his eyes on the road.

"COOP, tell me what the bloody hell is going on mate." Mick shouted, his tone getting more forceful with each word.

"I'm not sure. We were talking, she screamed and then the phone went dead. That's all I know." Cooper replied as he looked from the agent in the passenger seat to the rearview mirror. Prophet and Beth were silent in the backseat but fear and uneasiness was clear on their faces.

Mick's eyes focused on the road in front of them. "Drive faster." is all he said.

With that, Cooper's foot pressed as hard as it could on the accelerator as they sped down the road towards Gina's apartment. The rest of the car ride was completely silent.

* * *

><p>Moments before:<p>

Gina only had half an hour to get ready and be at work. This didn't make sense. How had she overslept? She never overslept, especially if her alarm was set. She glanced back towards her nightstand as she was talking to Cooper on the phone only to see nothing. It was so dark in her room but she should have been able to see the glowing number on her alarm at least. Maybe the power went out in the middle of the night, Gina thought.

"I have to run through the shower really fast. But I can be there in half an hour." Gina said as she reached for the light switch between the door and dresser.

As soon as Gina flipped the switch, she wished she hadn't. The dried red blood that covered Gina's pajamas stood out as soon as the light entered the room. She panicked thinking it was her own blood before letting out a scream so loud, she knew she had just woken up her whole apartment building. While panicking, the phone slipped from her fingers and dropped to the floor, breaking into several pieces. At that moment she didn't care. She lifted her shirt, looking for where the blood was coming from only to find nothing. Not a scratch anywhere. She turned around to examine the rest of the room. She was horrified at the scene in front of her. It looked almost identical to the one her and Mick had been at yesterday. Her sheets were covered in blood and on the wall above her bed, written in blood was 'I see you…'

Shivers rolled down Gina's spine. She ran over to her nightstand to grab her gun when she saw that her alarm clock had been unplugged. Gina had so much going through her mind right now that she couldn't think straight. She was a mess. After grabbing her gun and making sure it was still loaded, she backed herself into the corner of her room so that she was facing every entry way. She sat down, pulling her knees close to her chest, and resting her arms on them. She didn't know if Jones' was still in the apartment but if he was, she would be waiting for him. She wouldn't hesitate this time. She raised her gun to the door of her bedroom, never lowering it below eye level. Her hands were trembling so hard she could barely hold onto her gun. As she sat in the corner waiting, she kept thinking over and over again in her head 'he found me'.

* * *

><p>As soon as Cooper and the rest of the team reached Gina's apartment building, Mick jumped out of the SUV before the car had come to a complete stop. It didn't take long for the rest of the team to catch up. Once inside the lobby, Mick immediately ran towards the stairwell. An elevator could take too much time. Time they didn't have right now. Mick was trying hard not to think about what they were going to find in Gina's apartment. Instead, he concentrated on his steps. Pushing himself faster as he ran up the stairwell. He was taking 3 steps at a time at this point. The rest of the agents were not far behind.<p>

When Mick reached the 4th floor, he pulled out his gun and started down the hallway towards Gina's apartment. Once he approached the last door at the end of the hallway, he twisted the doorknob to see if it was locked. It wasn't. Good, he thought to himself. Maybe they wouldn't have to kick in the door. They might be able to catch him off guard that way. Once the rest of the team made it to the apartment, Mick looked to Cooper who gave him a nod. With that Mick slung open the door and rushed in with the rest of the team behind him. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Mick headed towards a closed door right off the living room. Terrified of what he might find on the other side of the door, he took a deep breath before throwing the door open and heading in. He stopped at the doorway once he saw the inside of the room. He found exactly what he was afraid of. The room in front of him was covered in blood. A message on the wall, just like with the other victims. But no Gina.

Maybe Jones' realized they were coming and wanted more time with her. Maybe she was still alive. All of these thoughts were running through Mick's head as he looked up the gruesome scene in front of him. There was so much blood. He knew, if she was still alive, she wouldn't be for long if she had already lost that much blood. His eyes began to water. He lowered his weapon and placed both hands on his knees and bent over. Just when he felt like he was going to throw up, a sound coming from the corner of the room caught his attention. It sounded like a loud click. The click of a safety being turned off a gun. He looked up to see Gina standing in the corner of the room, with her gun raised. She was aiming at him. Her hands were trembling so hard against the gun that you could hear it. He noticed she was covered in blood. It was all over her clothes, on her skin, everywhere. It scared him to death.

When Gina didn't immediately lower her weapon upon seeing Mick, he realized she was probably in shock. He approached her very carefully and cautiously. He placed his gun back in the holster and put his hands up in front of him to show her that he was not armed and therefore not a threat.

"Gina, it's okay. It's me. Mick." He said in a calm voice. "You can put down your gun. I'm not going to hurt you. We're here to help you."

By this point, the rest of the team had finished searching the apartment and found the scene in the bedroom. They all had pretty much the same reaction Mick had at first before seeing Gina in the corner of the room. They panicked again once they saw her with her gun raised and covered in blood. Beth exited the room and immediately called to find out what was taking the ambulance so long.

Gina did not respond to Mick. He inched closer towards her, taking very small steps as he spoke to her, trying to calm her down.

"Gina, you need to put the gun down so we can get you checked out. The paramedics are on their way. So just put down the gun. It's okay. No one is going to hurt you, I promise." Mick said in a soothing and comforting voice.

Still nothing.

"He's not here anymore. The apartment is clear. You're safe now." Mick said as he closed in on her. "You don't need this; you're going to be okay." He reassured as he reached for the gun, pulling it out of her hands and throwing it on the bed, out of reach. As soon as the gun was free of her hands, Mick pulled Gina close into his arms. As he hugged her, he whispered repeatedly in her ear "its okay" until she began to calm down.

Cooper walked over to the two agents. He could tell that Gina was a wreck. He wasn't sure what had happened in that apartment but right now he just wanted to make sure Gina was okay.

"The paramedics are here. Come on Gina, we need to get you to a hospital, now." Cooper said in a stern voice.

Mick and Gina pulled apart, Mick's arm never leaving her shoulders.

"It's not my blood." Gina finally spoke up with a shaky voice.

"What? Whose blood is it then?" Mick questioned.

"I don't know. All I know is that I woke up covered in it but it's not mine." She replied.

"Gina, you're in shock…" Mick started to say before Gina cut him off.

"I'm telling you it's not mine. I don't have so much as a scratch on me, see." Gina said as she lifted her shirt to reveal her abdomen.

She was right. She didn't have a mark on her. Nothing. Not even a drop of blood was located on the area that had been covered by her shirt.

"That doesn't make any sense. Where did all of this blood come from then?" Mick asked still questioning the blonde

Gina began to look uncomfortable standing in front of her other team members wearing pajamas that didn't leave much to the imagination. She folded her arms across her chest trying to cover herself as much as possible. It didn't help much.

"Okay boys, step aside." Beth said as she made her way to Gina. "I bet you could really use a shower right now, couldn't you?" She asked Gina with a smile on her face.

Gina simply nodded. "I can't though, the evidence."

"I think we have plenty of evidence here." Cooper said as he glanced around the room at the gory scene.

"In that case, yes." Gina replied.

Not taking the hint, the three male agents remained in Gina's bedroom, watching her with concerned filled eyes.

When they didn't exit the room immediately, Beth turned to stare down her other three team members.

"I'm sure Gina wouldn't mind some privacy while she takes a shower, huh boys?" Beth asked sarcastically still staring them down.

"Oh, right." Cooper replied finally getting the hint. "We will just go wait in the other room then."

Cooper heads for the door, with prophet right behind him. Mick on the other hand never moved a muscle.

"Mick go, I will stay with her." Beth said looking sharply at the British agent.

Mick appears very hesitant. He did not want to leave her alone for a second. He felt very protective over her. But with the way Beth was staring him down, he feared for his own life.

"I will be just in the next room if you need anything, okay?" He asked looking at Gina.

"I'll be okay. Go." Gina replied.

As Mick exits the door, Beth closes the door behind him almost having to shove him out.

"Thank you Beth, I forget how nice it is to have another female agent around sometimes." Gina says smiling at Beth.

"Don't mention it. I understand. I never thought they would get the hint though." Beth replied smiling back at the younger agent.

Gina lets out a laugh and Beth joins in.

"Tell me about it." Gina replies. "Well, I guess I had better go freshen up." Gina says as she heads for her bathroom that is connected to her bedroom.

"I'll be here." Beth replies.

With that, Gina heads into her bathroom, shutting the door behind her and locking it. She stands in front of the large mirror and for the first time since all of this, she is able to see what she looked like. How her team members saw her. What she saw in the reflection, she didn't like.

Her hair was saturated with blood in certain areas. Her face, neck and bare arms were covered in bloody splotches. She could barely tell what the color of her shirt used to be. It was now a dark red where the blood had dried. Her shorts were the same as her top. She was a mess. She looked like she had just butchered an entire family.

After examining herself, she then carefully pulled the bloody clothes off, placing them on the vanity just in case they are needed for evidence. After completely undressing, Gina turns on her shower and hops in. As she watches the light red water go down the drain, she lets her mind slip away. She wanted nothing more than to be away from here right now. Just to escape. For a few minutes at least.

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><p>Note- Ta da! Sorry I didn't post yesterday! I had a lot going on. But I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was pretty easy to write because I had already written out a summary of ideas for this chapter and the next. So hopefully I will be posting Chapter 7 soon. The next chapter will answer some of the questions I am sure you all have from reading this one. Like where did the blood come from? Please review! I love reading each and every one of your reviews! It really is encouragement for me to keep writing chapters! If no one is reading or enjoying them, It makes me not want to waste time writing them. So if you want me to keep going, please review! Let me know what you do and don't like about the story. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When she finished with her shower, Gina threw on an old pair of skinny jeans, a dark, long sleeve henley and a pair of boots. She took the blow dryer to her hair before pulling it back into a braided, side ponytail. She didn't bother putting on a dab of makeup. Right now, she honestly could care less what she looked like. As soon as she finished in the bathroom, she opened the door to discover several crime scene technicians and local police officers in her bedroom collecting evidence. Then she spotted Beth sitting on the couch at the end of her bed looking bored to tears. She was flipping through a gossip magazine that had been sitting on the couch.

"I guess we should join the others now." Gina said as she reached Beth, startling her.

"Oh, thank God. I didn't know how much longer I could read this krap." Beth said as she stood up and nonchalantly threw the magazine back onto the couch.

"Hey! Don't knock my magazines." Gina replied with a teasing grin on her face.

Beth threw up her hands in surrender as she headed towards the door.

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><p>In the other room, Mick and Prophet were sitting on the couch while Cooper was seated in one of Gina's leather arm chairs. The three male agents were going over different scenarios, trying to get a grasp on what could have happened in that apartment. The apartment was swarming with people at this point.<p>

Once the two female agents emerged from the bedroom, Mick instinctively jumped out of his seat and offered it to Gina. Gina sat down where he had once been sitting, while he sat on the arm of the sofa right beside her, never taking his eyes away from her. He was so afraid for her. For some reason, he felt a sick feeling at the pit of his stomach. He realized he couldn't bare it if anything happened to this woman that he had known for nearly two years. Had he always felt like this? Mick wondered. Is it just now surfacing because something could happen to her? Whatever the reason, he had to make sure no harm would come to her. He would protect her with his life. There had been plenty of men that he had crossed courses with over the past decade that he would die for. Cooper being one of them. He would die for his own baby sister if it came down to it. But this was different.

"You okay to do this right now?" Cooper questioned Gina with worry in his tone.

"I'm fine Coop. Let's just get it over with."

"Okay, just start from the beginning then." Cooper replied with worry showing on his features.

Gina took a deep breath "I was on the phone with you when I turned on the lights earlier. That's when I saw all of the blood on me and the rest of the room. I panicked, dropped the phone and grabbed my gun. You showed up about ten minutes later. That's pretty much it."

"So you never actually saw Jones?" Mick questioned.

"No, he must have broken in during the middle of the night while I was asleep. I was out of it, because I never heard or noticed anything. You would think I would have been able to hear something when he entered my apartment."

"There were no signs of forced entry." Prophet interjected.

"Then how could he have gotten in here?" Gina asked looking around at the rest of her team. All four had the same equally confused look on their face.

"You had a lot going on yesterday, it's possible you forgot to lock the…" Cooper began to say before Gina interrupted him.

"No, Coop. I locked that door. I double-checked it. I always double-check it. Last night was no different." Gina said as if she were almost offended by the implication.

"Okay, if you say you locked it, then you locked it. We are just trying to figure this out. We are all as much in the dark as you are." Cooper replied.

"I know, I'm sorry." Gina huffed before letting out a laugh. The other agents began staring at her as if she had lost it. "I feel like I have been saying that nonstop. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" She said in a mocking tone as she buried her face in her hands.

"You don't need to apologize. We know you're on edge. Give yourself some credit, your pretty together right now. I'm sure I would have lost it by this point. I mean to think that this psychopath was in here while you were asleep doing god knows…." Beth began but stopped once she noticed the look she was getting from the three male agents.

"Stick around. The day is early; I could lose it at any moment." Gina said as she smiled at the other female agent.

Mick spoke up breaking the tension, "He had to have gotten in somehow. If there are no signs of forced entry and you door was locked, then either he is one hell of a magician or were missing something."

"What about the blood, where did it come from?" Gina questioned. Not specifically talking to anyone. Just thinking aloud.

"Animal Blood?" Prophet pondered aloud.

"No, that doesn't fit his profile, I feel like I am missing something that is so obvious but I can't put my finger on it." Gina said, once again before burying her face into her hands.

Before any of the agents could respond, Gina jumped up from her seat, startling the other agents. She half ran to her bedroom and in a second was out again only this time she had her gun in hand and was taking off out of her apartment. The team followed, not knowing where she was going or what was on her mind. All they knew was that they had to trust her and that they had to have her back.

Gina ran past the elevator and headed straight to the stairwell. She was taking two steps at a time. She stopped at the floor below hers and made her way to the second door on the right and stopped suddenly at the door. The rest of the team had caught up to her when they all realized that the door they stood in front of was slightly cracked, almost like someone wanted something to be found. Gina glanced at her team members. They were starting to piece it together as well. Cooper gave her a nod and a second later Gina pushed open the door.

They swarmed in covering the whole apartment, searching for whatever it was Gina was looking for.

"Clear" Mick called.

"Clear" shouted Beth.

"Clear" Prophet and Cooper yelled almost in perfect unison.

When they didn't hear anything from Gina, they all quickly made their way towards the back of the apartment in the direction she had headed. They found Gina standing in an open doorway staring straight ahead. Her gun had been lowered to her side. When the rest of the team reached the bedroom door they saw what stopped Gina suddenly. A woman was tied to the bed, she had clearly been stabbed repeatedly in the lower region of her body and from what they could tell, her tongue had been removed like the first victim. On the wall above the bed was a message in blood that read "…GINA".

Gina looked at her other team members with tears in her eyes. "Her name is Pamela. I met her when I first moved into the building. I gave her a key to my apartment just in case there was an emergency."

"You can't blame yourself; this is not your fault. You couldn't have known this would happen. No one could have." Cooper said as he placed a comforting hand on Gina's shoulder.

Gina just nodded her head, as tears came rolling down her cheeks. "How did this happen? How did he know she had a copy of my key?" Gina asked.

"That's what we're going to find out" replied Cooper.

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><p>As soon as the team finished combing through Gina's neighbors, they headed back up to Gina's apartment to look for any more evidence that they might have missed before. When they arrived back upstairs, a man appearing to be in charge approached the agents with a questioning look on his face.<p>

"I'm Chief Crawford. I will be leading this investigation. And you all are?"

Pulling out his credentials, Sam replied with a slight aggravated tone in his voice "I'm sorry, I'm Sam Cooper with the FBI and this is my team; Agents Rawson, LaSalle, Griffith, and Simms. My team has everything under control here if you want to take your men upstairs and start combing through evidence."

"I'm sorry Agent Cooper, but why is the FBI interested in a home invasion?" The chief questioned.

"A home invasion? We have a body downstairs that is connected with this 'home invasion'." Cooper replied.

"We weren't informed of a homicide. Are you sure it's connected?" Chief Crawford asked with a confused expression on his face.

"The body was just discovered a few minutes ago and with all due respect Chief, I know my job. I am without a doubt positive that the body upstairs is linked to what happened here. Now if you don't mind, let forensics and the rest of your officers know to head downstairs once they are finished. We can take over in here."

"Yes Sir, Agent Cooper."

With that, Cooper nodded his head to the younger man before turning back to face his team.

With concern spreading across his face, Cooper eyes Gina for a few moments before saying anything. "Gina you can't stay here until we catch this guy. Is there anywhere you can go?"

"I don't want to worry my parents. I can check into a hotel for a few nights." Gina replied.

"Like hell you will" Mick jumped in, barely letting Gina finish.

"Mick it's fine. Really. I can protect myself."

"Yea, that's obvious. The man broke into your apartment and did god knows what while you were asleep without you having a clue. He could have easily killed you right then and you never would have seen it coming."

"Look, I know what to expect now. I let my guard down. If it makes you feel any better, I will keep my gun on me at all times. In the shower. In the bed. Wherever. "

"No, you're staying with me until we catch this guy."

"I don't think that's such a go.." Gina started to say before Cooper interjected, cutting her off.

"No, Mick is right. I would feel much better if you had someone to stay with. Especially if it were one of your fellow team members."

"Coop, I really.."

Without letting her finish, Cooper once again cut her off "That isn't a suggestion. It's an order. Your staying with Mick until this man is caught, understood?"

"Understood." Replied Gina.

Cooper takes a moment to stare down the two younger agents with one eyebrow slightly raised "Now, I don't have to remind you two to be professional, no funny business?"

Gina glared at Cooper "Trust me, you have nothing to worry about." She says, clearly exaggerating the nothing.

Coopers eyes move to Mick's for confirmation.

Mick simply throws up his hands in surrender before replying "what she said".

Coopers phone begins to ring from inside his pocket. "Excuse me" is all he says as he walks outside to the hallways to take the call.

Meanwhile, the two younger agents are still going at it discussing the "living arrangements" for the next few days.

"You sure your latest conquest won't mind me staying over? I wouldn't want to step on any ones toes." Gina asks in a sarcastic tone.

"As long as your promise to keep your hands to yourself, I'm sure she won't mind at all, love" Mick replies equally sarcastic.

"I will try to resists the temptation,_ love."_

"That's all I ask." Mick says as he flashes his charming smile at Gina.

"Are these two always like this?" Chief Crawford speaks up from the other side of the room, referring to the obvious flirtation taking place between Mick and Gina.

"Oh you have no idea" replies Beth from the Couch.

"Like what?" asked Mick in his cute British accent.

Beth and Prophet exchange a quick glance before rolling their eyes and letting out a laugh.

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><p>Note- Okay, first of all I just want to apologize for the long delay in posting Chapter 7. I started back to school and havent had much time to concentrate on writing much. Also, I had a really tough time writing this chapter all together. I have had all of it done except the last part with Chief Crawford for the past month. I have been playing with that part trying to figure out where to go. For some reason, it was hard for me to write the dialouge between Cooper and the Chief. I dont really know why. I promise I did have the rest already finished. It was just waiting on that part. I finally sat down tonight and decided to finish it. I am still not satisfied with how I have it but I really wanted to go ahead and post this so you all would have something to read. I know I hate when I get into a story and people just leave off without an ending. SO I couldnt do that to you all! I promise I am going to try and post the chapters in a faster manner. Just be patient because I have a lot going on right now and I wont have much time to dedicate to it. I am going to try though! WHo knows, maybe some reviews will motivate me even more! Let me know what you think of this and if you have any suggestions at all I would love to hear them. I am playing it by ear now so I am open to anything! Enjoy and sorry again to the people who have been reading :)<p> 


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